Clockwise from top right: Indigo, Smoke, Cinder, Bukowski
Cinder and Smoke
is a webcomic started in 2011 following the lives and adventures of Bukowski and the twins he found while hiking, Cinder and Smoke. Cinder and Smoke are not as human as they appear and Buk struggles to keep them safe from society... and society from them. Strips vary from Slice of Life to Drama as they follow the ups and downs of life.
Tropes include:
- Abusive Parents: Buk's father was very physically and emotionally abusive, eventually causing Buk to cut all ties and leave.
- Ambiguously Human: Cinder and Smoke are definitely not, but the ambiguity comes from how no one really knows what they are. Aside from their fire abilities, they also have regenerative powers, as seen when Bukowski tries to cut Smoke's hair. "Walk Through the Fire" shows us what is implied to be their true form, and it only raises further questions.
- Art Evolution: Earlier strips were simpler, while the art in the later pages is polished to the point of looking like a published manga.
- Animesque
- Born as an Adult: Or rather, "Born as a Teen"—Cinder and Smoke look 14, but it's implied in the comic "Lost" that they just kind of...spontaneously generated in their current forms one day.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: While Cinder and Smoke can't catch actual diseases because their body temperatures are too high, if they spend too long in the cold they run fevers as their bodies try to re-establish warmth.
- Clothing Damage: Not normally, but in "Walk Through the Fire", Smoke's clothes are destroyed when he unleashes his full power and the same happens to Cinder when they fuse.
- Cuteness Overload: Indigo gets this around Smoke.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Bukowski's mother died when he was a child, leaving him to be raised by his abusive father. He remembers her fondly and tries to live his life as a person she would be proud of.
- Family of Choice: Bukowski, Cinder and Smoke all more or less form this dynamic, Indigo joining them as well.
- Full-Frontal Assault: In "Walk Through the Fire", Cinder and Smoke's fusion destroys both their clothing and the form they take on is a nude reptilian humanoid that goes on a rampage.
- Fusion Dance: In "Walk Through the Fire", Cinder and Smoke suddenly fuse into a strange, draconic-looking humanoid and start wreaking havoc.
- Healing Factor: Bukowski learns that Smoke (and presumably Cinder too) has a sort of phoenix-like one when he tries to cut his hair—the lock of hair he cut dissolves into ashes and gives off smoke before a new lock identical to the old one grows back on Smoke's head.Bukowski: That's new. And a little bit creepy.
- Logical Weakness: Both the twins hate water, due to their fiery and smoky nature.
- The Lost Lenore: Indigo lost his wife Sarah in a car accident that only left him mildly injured, giving him a nasty case of Survivor's Guilt. Doubles as Parting-Words Regret, as they were arguing when the accident happened.
- Meaningful Name: Cinder produces fire, Smoke produces...well, guess.
- Non-Humans Lack Attributes: Cinder and Smoke's fused form in "Walk Through the Fire" is naked, but has nothing to hide.
- Papa Wolf: Do not hurt Cinder or Smoke. Bukowski is nearly 7 feet tall and very capable of flying into a Berserker Rage.
- Personality Powers: Cinder, the brash, aggressive one of the two, has the power to make fire, while Smoke, the calmer but more timid of the pair, makes steam and...well, smoke.
- Playing with Fire: Cinder and Smoke's powers involve them being able to produce flames and smoke respectively.
- Psychoactive Powers: Cinder and Smoke both tend to shoot flames/smoke when excited, and Cinder's chest glows when he's really nervous.
- Spontaneous Generation: Cinder and Smoke were apparently born in their current forms when lightning struck the lava flow of an active volcano.
- They Would Cut You Up: And they pretty much do, in "To Hell and Back". Fortunately, Bukowski has quite a lot to say about that...
- Wham Episode:
- "To Hell and Back", the first "arc" in the series and set with a significantly darker tone, where Cinder and Smoke are kidnapped by government agents and experimented on and effectively tortured until Bukowski arrives to rescue them.
- "Walk Through the Fire" completely contrasts with the rest of the comics, starting with Cinder and Smoke undergoing a dramatic transformation and running on from there—the stakes are higher, at least one person has already died and Bukowski is desperate to get his kids back to normal.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Cinder is afraid of thunder and lightning. This is a Chekhov's Gun in "Walk Through the Fire", where Bukowski figures out that the strange creature attacking him is Cinder when lightning strikes and it cowers.
